Life is Beautiful for the 20-1s

My ELA 20-1 class just finished viewing the film Life is Beautiful, starring Roberto Benigni (1998).

In 1930s Italy, a carefree Jewish bookkeeper named Guido starts a fairy tale life by courting and marrying a lovely woman from a nearby city. Guido and his wife have a son and live happily together until the occupation of Italy by German forces. In an attempt to hold his family together and help his son survive the horrors of a Jewish Concentration Camp, Guido imagines that the Holocaust is a game and that the grand prize for winning is a tank. - IMDb Summary  

Throughout the film, the students were given questions to discuss between viewings. We watched 4 parts of the film, with the questions being specifically related to that viewing day. I wanted to show the students the evolution of the film, from the tone to the mood to the costumes and lighting. They were introduced to the use of different camera angles and how they add to a film’s tone as well. It’s been an interesting unit with hearing their thoughts on the film and how they were wavering on whether it’s a light-hearted film or an absolute tragedy. The bonus is that even though the film is in Italian and subtitled for them to read, by the second viewing they hardly noticed that they were reading dialogue the entire film. It’s been an awesome unit thus far.

They now have an essay assignment that they have been working on and they will also be introduced to a film analysis assignment on Monday that I hope they enjoy as much as my ENG 20-1 class enjoyed last year. Their film analysis assignment states that they have to choose a film from the drama genre that would fit with our semester’s theme of “the human condition”. They have to analyze their film and discuss the actor’s portrayals, cinematography, theme, symbols, music, and motifs. I'm excited to see what films they choose and their completed projects! I'll keep you updated on those projects (including the assignment handout and PowerPoint slides we went over)!

Watch the movie trailer below! AND Roberto Benigni’s acceptance speech at the 1998 Oscars (It won Best Foreign Film, Best Original Score, and Roberto Benigni, actor and director, won Best Actor; beating out Edward Norton AND Tom Hanks).